“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the advice Atticus Finch gave to Jem during a signature moment
in Harper Lee’s book, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” That may still be good
advice, only this time it should be directed to the book.

A prominent Los Angeles attorney with deep western Iowa roots is a
leading figure in a recent legal settlement with implications so
profound for America’s veterans that journalist Tom Brokaw featured the
case on “Meet the Press” earlier this month.

Newly installed U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Red Oak Republican, breaks with
many conservatives in agreeing with President Barack Obama on a highly
controversial element of White House-directed immigration reform.

Kate was just 9 months old when her parents heard her diagnosis:
“cerebral palsy.” She would spend her life in a wheelchair. She would
need surgery to place metal rods in her back to correct the spinal
curvature. The physical and intellectual impairments would be permanent.

When the call came from an officer who needed help facing an armed
robber at a fast-food restaurant, two members of a reality television
show riding along with Omaha police hustled to record the confrontation.

As the nation's midsection has grown more conservative and Republican, Democrats have sometimes had to rest their hopes on well-positioned GOP contenders imploding with their own politically off-key statements.